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Up to 20 families of Syrian refugees could be headed to the Sarnia-Lambton area in the coming weeks and months.

That's thanks to the combined efforts of a number of faith-based sponsor groups, said Stephanie Ferrera, speaking for the newly-created Lambton Refugee Sponsor Network (LRSN).

The network, a central hub for the sponsor groups, is coordinating ways for people to drop off donated goods and cash, along with organizing training sessions for volunteers and service providers, and keeping tabs on the overall count of Syrian refugees coming to the area, said Ferrera, who is also project coordinator of the Sarnia-Lambton Local Immigration Partnership, which created the network.

“We're more of a planning body,” she said Friday.

Coordinating training sessions — with partners like the YMCA Learning and Career Centre, and, in London the Muslim Resource Centre for Social Support and Integration — is being done so service providers are better prepared for cultural differences and refugees with post-traumatic stress disorder, she said.

Plans are also to work with public health and local community health centres so new arrivals get the care they need, she said, noting one thing officials check for are up-to-date inoculations.

Those who've already arrived have been in good health, Ferrera said.

The network has set up four designated donation drop sites for things like clothing and furniture, and a central spot for financial gifts.

Donations can also be made directly to the groups that are responsible to their sponsored refugees for general care, lodging, settlement assistance and financial support for 12 months, Ferrera said.

An immigration lawyer last fall pegged the cost to sponsor a family of four for a year at approximately $27,000.

Canada's federal government has committed to accepting 25,000 government and privately-sponsored Syrian refugees by the end of this month.